Monday, 8 April 2019

The human brain continuously changes over time, forming new synaptic connections based on experiences and information learned over a lifetime. Over the past few years, artificial Intelligence (AI) researchers have been trying to reproduce this fascinating capability, known as 'plasticity,' in artificial neural networks (ANNs).

French lawmakers on Monday began debating a new tax on digital giants such as Facebook and Apple that has angered the United States, with Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire boasting that France was proud to be in the vanguard of such a move.

Does exposure to stress early in life affect a baby's brain development, and is there a way to single out babies who might benefit from early intervention? A two-center study led by Boston Children's Hospital, published today in JAMA Pediatrics, used brain EEGs to begin to get at these questions in an objectively measurable way. It found that infants whose mothers reported high levels of stress have a distinct pattern of brain activity as measured by EEG—at only 2 months of age.

Using information from two national surveys, researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine and the Guttmacher Institute have found that in some metropolitan areas, more than a quarter of young, African American men reported having sexual intercourse before age 13, and for about 45 percent of them, the sex was either unwanted or experienced with "mixed feelings."

Microsoft has announced that it will close the books category of its digital store. While other software and apps will still be available via the virtual shop front, and on purchasers' consoles and devices, the closure of the eBook store takes with it customers' eBook libraries. Any digital books bought through the service – even those bought many years ago – will no longer be readable after July 2019. While the company has promised to provide a full refund for all eBook purchases, this decision raises important questions of ownership.